Cultivator



(No Model.) s Sheets-Sheet '1 I. FIX.

GULTIVATOR.

No. 600,415. Patented Mar. 8, 1898.

(-No Model.) 3 SheetS -SheQt 2. I. PIX.

GULTIVATOR. No. 600,415. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

WITNESSES I NVENTOR 3 t B e h S S t e e h S 3 R mm W PW .T IL U mu m d 0 M o N No. 600,415. Patented Mar. 8; 1898.

, INVENTOR WITNESSES Nrrrt STATES IsAAc FIX, or TALBOT, INDIANA.

CU LTIVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,415, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed September 2, 1397. Serial No. 650,3'72. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, ISAAC FIX, a citizen of the United States, residing at Talbot, in the county of Benton and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in cultivators, and more particularly to that class of cultivators which are adapted to cultivate or plow two rows at a time and which may be drawn by three horses and at the same time only require the services of one man to handle the same.

It consists in providing a wheel-cultivator with an arched axle adapted to straddle two rows, the construction being such that two arches are formed between the wheels, and in attaching cultivator-beains to the said arched axle by means of swivels, whereby they are capable of movement in all directions, and rear arch-bars connecting the cultivatorbeams, so as to form pairs upon each side, the said rear arches being swiveled to the cultivator-beams near their rear ends.

It also consists in certain other constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts, all of which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

, plow-beams, and D the rear arches.

I11 constructing a cultivatorin accordance with my invention I find it of great advantage to form the axle of a single piece of metal, as illustrated in the drawings. This axle may be bent so as to form two arches to cover two rows in cultivation, or it may be constructed as indicated clearly in Fig. 4c of the drawings, in which way I prefer to form the same. In this construction the axle is provided with wheel-engaging portions or journals 1) b, upon which suitable wheels I) are mounted. Inside of the wheels a short distance the axle is bent upwardly and carried to a sufiicient height to be able to extend above vegetables which grow quite tall. The central portion of the axle is therefore the highest portion and extends across both rows. In order to form the two arches and provide for asupport for the central cultivator-beam, I mount an auxiliary axle portion, as b upon the central portion of the axle B by means of hangers b 11 which are securely fastened to the axle B at their upper ends. To the upper sides of the highest portion of the axle B are secured the poles or tongues. One of these poles, as a, is made long enough to extend between the horses attached to the cultivator, whereby the cultivator may be suitablyguided. The pole CL may be attached to the axle B in any suitablev manner, but, as is illustrated in the drawings, a simple clip,as a,is passed through the tongue and around the axle. Another tongue, as a is attached to the axle near its opposite end above the other arch, and is made short, and its forward end is connected with the tongue by means of a cross-beam,

j as a In the accompanying drawings, Figure I In order to thoroughly brace the tongues a a with respect to the axle B, I employ bracebars, as a or, attached at their upper ends to the tongues or poles and at their lower ends to the axle B and the auxiliary axle U, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. To the under side of the beam (6 and about centrally thereof is pivotally mounted a doubletree a which carries at its outer ends singletrees a a. The singletrees a a are so mounted as to permit of a greater leverage at their inner ends than at their outer ends, the outer ends being made somewhat shorter than the inner ends. Vertical draft-bars, as a a are secured to the ends of the singletrees, one

being attached to each of the outer ends of the said trees and the central one being pivotally connected by means of links a a with the inner ends of the said singletrees, both ends being connected to the same bar a".

The bars a extend downwardly to a point about opposite to the lower part of the axle B and are connected therewith in any suitable manner, so as to be free to have lateral play. WVhile I contemplate attaching these to the axle in any suitable manner, I prefer to employ means shown in the drawings and particularly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, in which a clip, as a", is passed around the shaft B and has secured to it in front of the shaft a vertical adj usting-bar a A bar of this description is supplied for each draftbar b A link, as a is secured in the lower end of each bar a and a rod, as a connects each link with the vertical bar a By adjusting the hooked bar a into the different apertures in the bar a the position of the bar a may be adjusted as desired. Each bar a is preferably provided with one or more apertures, as a, in which may be hooked an ordinary singletree, as a.

two in front of each wheel.

The beams O are each provided at their fori ward ends with end pieces 0 c, which are bolted to the said beams and are provided with a vertical bearing-sleeve c, which is pivotally secured between the bifurcated arms 0 c of the swivel-blocks c 0 which are pivotally mounted upon the axle B and the auxiliary axle b By this means each cultivatorbeam 0 may be raised or lowered with respect to the axle B or may be moved sidewise, as desired. I prefer to mount the outside vertical bars a a directly upon the swivelblocks 0 0 while the central bar a is secured by a separate clip directly to the auxiliary shaft 17 Suitable operating-handles, as O O, are secured to each of the inner beams O O and braced in position by means of the brace-bars c In order to bring both of the beams C 0 upon each side of the plow within operating reach of the person operating the cultivator, the inner beams O O are connected with the outer beams O 0, near their outer ends, by means of the rear arches D D. The

, arches D D are preferably formed so as to have an opening between them corresponding to the opening between the front arches formed in the axle B, and are connected to the beams O at their lower ends by means of swivel-joints or pivots. The lower ends of the arches D D are preferably reduced in size, as at d, and inserted into sockets, as d. Cotter-pins orother suitable fastenings are inserted into the lower ends of the arches to prevent them accidentally jumping out of the sockets. Each arch d is preferably braced with respect to the beams O by means of brace-bars 01 In order to make the arches adjustable as to their width, each one is made in two pieces, their central portions being flattened, as at d (P, so as to lap by one another, and provided with adjusting-holes through which bolts may be passed to adjust Horses for oper-- ating the cultivator may be-attached directly to these singletrees a, one in the center and and clamp them at the desired width. It will be seen from this construction that a person walking behind the central beams will have a handle 0 connected to the pairs of cultivators on each side within easy reach, and can thus readily control and guide the cultivator plows or teeth so as to prevent them from coming in contact with plants or vegetables. I contemplate employing any suitable or well-known form of cultivator-tooth or plow-point in connection with the beams C, and while I may use one or more points of teeth upon each beam, yet I prefer using a single plowshare, as illustrated in the draw ings, the said plows E being provided with vertical standards 6, which are adapted to be clamped tightly against lateral extending attaching-pieces e e, which are securely bolted to the beams G O. The standards e 6 may be otherwise braced with respect to the beams, if desired. The lower ends of the standards 6 e are preferably bifurcated, as at 2 and are thus adapted to have the plow-points adjusted with respect to the standards accordingly as it is desired to make the cut in the ground shallow or deep. When the cultivator plows or teeth are not in use and the cultivator is being moved from one place to another or hauled from the roads, the cultivator-beams may be raised out of operative position and supported by means of depending hooks, as ff, secured to the rear ends of the tongues or poles a a It will be seen that by constructing a cultivator in accordance with the above description I am enabled to plow or cultivate upon each side of two rows of plants and using the combined power of three horses to pull the mechanism along, while at the same time the whole device can be readily controlled and guided by one person. Also by means of this construction I am enabled to build a cultivator which shall be very simple in all its parts and can be strongly made.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cultivator, the combination with suitable wheels, of an arched axle mounted thereon, a detachable auxiliary axle suspended in the arched portion to form double arches, cultivator-beams attached to said axle and said auxiliary axle by swivel connections, rear arches connected to the rear ends of the said cultivator-beams, the said rear arches being formed in two pieces adjustable with relation to each other, whereby the distance between the said cultivator-beams may be regulated as desired, swivel connections interposed betweenthe said rear arches and the said cultivator-beams, and cultivator teeth or plows secured to the said beams, substantially as described.

2. In a cultivator, the combination with suitable wheels, of an axle mounted thereon, the said axle being provided with a central raised portion, an auxiliary shaft suspended beneath the raised portion, by end bars secured to said auxiliary shaft and provided with clamping portions at their upper ends, whereby they are adapted to be detachably secured to the said axle, and brace-rods secured to said auxiliary shaft at one end and to the tongues or poles at the other end, substantially as described.

3. In a cultivator, the combination with a suitable shaft, of cultivator-beams attached thereto, swivel-blocks for pivotally securing the beams at their forward ends to the said shaft, and rear arches for pivotally holding the beams at certain distances from each other at their rear ends, the said rear arches comprising separable parts adapted to be adjustably secured together at their upper ends and provided with bearings at their lower ends adapted to engage sockets formed upon the said beams, substantially as described.

4. In a cultivator, the combination with a suitable shaft,of poles secured thereto, a crosspiece joining the said poles, a whiffletree pivoted to the under side of the said cross-piece, doubletrees pivotally mounted upon the under side of the said Whiffletree, the inner ends of the said doubletrees being longer than the outer ends thereof, Vertioally-arranged draftbars connected to the ends of the said doubletrees, the central draft-bar of which is pivotally connected to the two inner ends of the doubletrees, links for connecting the lower ends of the said draft-bars with the shaft of the cultivator, and singletrees mounted upon the said vertical draft-bars, the construction being such that the pulling strain will be equally distributed among the animals pu1ling the cultivator, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC FIX. Witnesses:

J. FRANK IIANLY, DANIEL P. FLANAGAN. 

